Beloved Tigress
by CrimsonCat
Summary: After Buffy runs away, a stranger appears to help out the gang and sticks around when the Slayer returns AU. R&R plz
1. prologue

Disclaimer: BTVS does not belong to me. Don't sue, I have no money, lol.  
Summary: After Buffy runs away (after killing Angel), a stranger appears out  
of nowhere to help the gang with their vamp. problems.  
She sticks around after Buffy gets back, and in season six, things start  
getting strange.  
Pairings: S/B, W/T, X,A  
  
Ok people, This is the first chapter BTVS story I actually plan to  
finish, lol. Set in Season six, spoilers up until 'Gone'.  
Willow & Tara never broke up.  
Assume that Willow knows how to control her cravings for power and  
never had to swear off magic.  
While I don't own the BTVS characters, Ceres and her clan are totally mine.  
Hope you like the story.  
I don't plan on uploading the next chapter until I get 5 reviews, lol.  
Actually, I still have to write it..  
But, if you guys don't like it, I won't finnish it. SO let me know what you  
think, okies? ;)  
Enough of that.. onto the story!  
~CrimsonCat~  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
She came to us about a week after Buffy had run away.  
We were a mess when she found us.  
Worried about our Slayer and trying to keep the vampire population down.  
  
Xander, Oz, Cordillia and I were in the grave yard attacking vamps when  
two of them jumped out at us.  
We could barely handle one vampire, so two was definitely out of our league.  
So, there we are trying not to get ourselves killed, when an angel appeared.  
Or, at least she looked like an angel to me at the time.  
Keep in mind though, I was being choked by a fairly strong undead fiend.  
  
But anyway, She leapt down from one of the crypts, ripping the vampire  
away from me.  
She had both of them dusted in under thirty seconds.  
The way Buffy would have done it.  
  
The four of us, we just stared at her in shock.  
  
"I'm Ceres."  
  
Simple as that.  
A name, and a friendly smile.  
  
She had long, dark brown hair, and copper color eyes.  
I remember the way her dark, tanned skin sparkled in the moonlight.  
And I almost expected ivory wings to appear behind her.  
  
We accepted her into our group, and she became our muscle.  
She appeared to be as strong as Buffy was.  
Just as agile, just as quick..  
And to make the deal even better, she was a advanced magic user.  
I called her a witch once, but she said she preferred the term 'sorceress'.  
Giles was the least willing to accept her, but he did eventually.  
And when Buffy finally came back, she accepted her too.  
  
Granted, there was some tension, but the two of them got along wonderfully  
after a few weeks.  
Some demon killing or another brought them together.  
Who said the buggers weren't good for anything?  
She became Buffy's 'patrol-Buddy' and everything.  
  
So, she enrolled in the high school, and was there through everything.  
Angel's return, Faith's appearance, Faith's sudden side-switching, the  
whole 'mayor-assention-thing', Angel leaving, grad, the initiative  
phase, Dawn's appearance, Joyce's death, the battle with Glory..  
She was there for all of it.  
And out of all of us, she was the one who accepted Spike easiest after  
he got that chip.  
  
She was there when Buffy died.  
  
The two had become sisters almost, and it was as hard on her as it was  
on the rest of us.  
And like Spike, she blamed herself for our Slayer's death.  
The two of them became obsessed with protecting Dawn, the last Summers  
they could save.  
  
We didn't tell her about the spell to bring Buffy back.  
Although her magical power would have made things a lot easier, for she  
was much more advanced than I, we didn't tell her.  
She, like Giles and Spike, never would have let us go through with it.  
So, we didn't tell her.  
She found out about the same time Spike did.  
  
Her and Buffy have taken up their patrolling together again thing.  
And when the rest of us are busy, she keeps track of where Dawn is,  
and keeps the kid out of trouble.  
  
To this day, I still expect to find wings when I look at her. 


	2. Ch.1

Ceres glanced towards the front door as she heard it shut softly and  
watched as Buffy entered her house slowly.  
  
"Long night?" Ceres asked.  
  
Buffy didn't seem surprised to see her in the living room.  
"You could say that again." Buffy agreed as she collapsed into a chair  
opposite her friend.  
  
"Dawn is upstairs in bed." Ceres told the Slayer. "Willow and Tara went  
out. I was just waiting until you got home."  
  
"Thanks for watching her." Buffy managed a smile.  
  
"You ok tonight?" Ceres asked, concern tinting her voice.  
  
"Me? Oh, yeah. All kinds of ok." Buffy assured her.  
  
Ceres frowned.  
"If you don't want to talk about it, say so. Don't lie to me."  
  
Buffy sighed.  
"Ceres.."  
  
"Never mind, get to bed. You look exhausted." Ceres interrupted her.  
"There are some things I need to do anyway."  
  
"At one o'clock in the morning?" Buffy regarded the other girl.  
  
Ceres got up and made her way to the doorway.  
"Good-night Buffy." She called over her shoulder before leaving the  
Summers' house.  
  
  
  
Ceres scanned the graveyard around her as she cut through it on her way  
home. She lived in a rather nice and rather large apartment not far  
from the graveyard.  
Then again, in Sunnydale, nothing was very far from the graveyard.  
A warm spring breeze caressed her cheek, brining with it a scent that  
made her blood run cold.  
Ceres froze, not daring to move a muscle. Hardly even daring to draw  
a breath.  
It wasn't a vampire, and she wished with all her heart that is was.  
Ceres could handle vampires, and most any other demon.  
Except, maybe these ones.  
She tasted the air carefully, channeling her powers into her heightened  
senses.  
There were at least five of them, maybe six.  
Ceres shivered slightly.  
She might not be able to take all of them.  
And to make it worse, she couldn't tell where they were.  
They could be hiding behind the next tomb, or clear on the other side  
of the over-sized graveyard.  
Taking a deep breath, Ceres started walking again.  
If she were lucky, she might be able to get away before she was seen.  
But lady luck was not with her tonight.  
For as she passed the Buckham tomb, she spotted the five of them.  
And to make matters worse, they spotted her too.  
  
They looked like a cross between feline and human.  
Standing from 5-6 feet tall with fur covering their bodies.  
Cat ears, eyes, marking, and tails. Not to mention what looked like  
midevil clothing.  
The five creatures flexed their claws and hissed as they caught sight  
of Ceres, who felt her heart stop as they regarded her.  
  
"Oh shit.." She breathed.  
  
With no warning, they were upon her.  
Ceres blocked their attacks as best she could, using her magic every  
chance they gave her.  
But she knew she was losing.  
Another few moments, and Ceres would be at their mercy.  
As she threw one into the crypt with a gust of wind, Ceres noticed  
another go down out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"Spike!" She exclaimed, relief flowing off of her in waves.  
  
"Thought you might like some help." Spike replied.  
  
Ceres' words of thanks were cut off as she dodged a set of claws.  
With a single word, she sent the offending creature flying into the  
same crypt as the last.  
The remaining two regarded the witch and vampire.  
With their numbers evened out now, they had lost their advantage.  
  
"You knew we would come eventually." The one with tabby markings  
hissed. "You defeated us today, but there will be more. We know where  
you are now, little one."  
  
And with that, they turned and ran. 


End file.
